Trending News: This App Takes All Of The Power Away From Men

Why Is This Important?

Dating apps are still looking for the magic formula for success — has Antidate found it?

Long Story Short

The latest app to try and solve the online dating conundrum may just have a chance of success. Girls aren't visible to a guy unless they specifically make the first move towards him, while time-stamped selfies, map locations and Instagram feeds help keep profiles more honest. The app is out now in the UK.

Long Story

Antidate is a new take on the traditional dating app, currently available for iOS only if you live in the UK. The experience is very different depending on whether you're a guy or a girl — men are visible to everyone, including other men, while the ladies are hidden from view until they make the first move and get in touch with someone they're interested in.

According to Antidate's developers, this asymmetrical approach is designed to deal with two problems: Men who are tired of having to making the first move and women who are tired of having to deal with a barrage of unwanted messages. "We had stumbled on a way of flipping the first move through the app so guys had to do very little and girls were way more in control," explained co-founder Mo Saha to TechCrunch. "We also knew that online dating conversations are five times more likely to continue if started by a girl."

The app has a few more tricks up its sleeve too: profile pictures are time-stamped selfies so you know you're looking at an up-to-date picture when someone gets in touch, and messages self-destruct after 24 hours to encourage people to get chatting and meeting up more quickly. Instagram feeds must be linked to accounts as well to give you another helping hand when it comes to finding your soulmate.

Antidate has been a work in progress for two years but has only just launched to the public — for now it's only available in the UK iTunes Store, though the development team is planning an international expansion as well as an LGBTQ version once it works out exactly how the app's approach might work for same-sex couples.

It's early days for Antidate but it solves one of the key problems for dating services — women being put off by a deluge of unwanted messages and unwelcome attention. Add to that the fact that men just need to sit back and wait for messages to come in (a low-effort approach that's sure to appeal) and there's a good chance you'll be hearing more about Antidate in the future.

Also new to the dating app scene is The Grade. Users are ranked by people they've been in contact with based on their profile and their messages — if you fall below a C you'll start getting tips on how to improve your techniques, while if you drop to an F you'll get kicked off the platform altogether, which is one way of dealing with unwelcome suitors.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: Considering the amount of data and number-crunching power at its disposal, why isn't Facebook in the dating app game?

Disrupt Your Feed: For every problem that a dating app solves, a different one appears in its place.

Drop This Fact: 1 in 10 adults in the U.S. have used an online dating service, and nearly a quarter of those users say they've met their future spouse as a result.